Sunday Homily 10-5-08, 27th, Ordinary Time
Readings: Isaiah 5, 1-7; Psalm 80; Philippians 4, 6-9; Matthew 21, 33-43.
Isaiah:
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The biggest of the big 3 prophets not only because of the book's volume, 66 chapters, but because of the beauty of some passages.
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Time written: before the Babylonian Captivity (ca. 590) chapters 1-39 seem to have been composed by the prophet. After the Captivity (ca. 540) at least two followers seem to have composed chapters 40-66.
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Today's selection: talks about a vineyard worker who labors carefully to bring forth good grapes, but gets only weeds. What does he do with the vines? This story matches up with Matthew's parable.
The Parable of the Landowner with a Vineyard
Sometimes I encounter a parable that I find really difficult to understand. This is one of them. I wonder why the landowner would send his son to the tenants after twice they had killed his servants when they went to collect the produce.
Obviously, as in the case of all parables, we are faced with multiple layers of symbolism. Of course, the landowner represents Yahweh. The tenants are the Jewish people. Remember Matthew is writing both to Jews and Gentiles. He is warning the Jews that they are going to lose their preferential place in Yahweh's plan if they do not accept Jesus as The Savior.
The son is Jesus, the savior, the man the Jews criticized and condemned to death. But why would He send his son?
I have one story about this that gave me an insight into the mind set of Yahweh and Matthew's intention with the parable. You may have heard me tell the story three years ago, but it is all I got even to this day.
It concerns a red oak I planted years ago on the corner of Willow Lane and Inwood. This is the south eastern corner of the Jesuit property. I had just started planting trees in Dallas. It may have been fall of '87 or fall of '88. I planted a whole row of trees on both Inwood and Willow, edging the campus.
On the Inwood side of the corner is a bus stop and students from various schools used to catch the bus there. The winter after I planted the five gallon red oak, it was pulled out and thrown away. I replanted. Later in the year it was pulled out and thrown in the creek again. I was hurt, mad, and especially frustrated because it was the tree on the very corner, Willow side. It one day would shade the bus stop, in fact.
I waited. I reflected. Eventually I decided to plant again in the fall, but this time I was going to plant a tree two times the size and two times the cost. I thought, 'maybe the kids will respect the bigger tree. I really hoped to have a nice tree some day shading the people waiting for the bus.
So I planted. And waited some more. Today a beautiful red oak shades the people waiting for the bus. It is almost twenty years old.
The parable of the landowner presents the man as somewhat idiotic but also ready to take revenge on the tenants who killed his servants and son. I think I see two levels of symbolism.
On one level the landowner represents Yahweh who has, first, tried to deal reasonably with the tenants. Then, secondly, Matthew indicates that Yahweh will put the wretched laborers to a wretched end, meaning the Jews are going to get it.
I see a second level of symbolism, which maybe Matthew did not intend. The landowner who seems so idiotic represents a Yahweh who is truly idiotic. But he is idiotic over his people because He loves them. We are his people. We are the tenants.
My experience with the tree showed me that I can do idiotic things to make our place a better place to live in. I was fortunate.
What is your image of our God?
AUDIO: sorry, none today.